As Nigeria moves towards the 2027 general elections, the political conversation will inevitably be dominated by candidates, parties, alliances, zoning, ethnicity, religion and the familiar calculations of electoral politics. But Daniel Kamanga asks Nigerians to step back from the noise and consider a more fundamental question: What, exactly, should we be looking for when we choose those who will govern us?
Despite their huge hydrocarbon deposits and massive contributions to Nigeria’s foreign exchange earnings, the six states of the South-South geopolitical zone have the worst network of federal roads in the country. Nothing has been done to fix the situation in the last 10 years or more.
In this thought-provoking piece, Daniel Kamanga makes the case for a more conscious approach to politics—one that moves beyond party loyalty, ethnic sentiment, religious affiliation and personality cults to focus on the character, competence, vision, integrity and capacity of those seeking public office.
His central argument is simple but profound: the quality of a democracy cannot be separated from the quality of the choices voters make at the ballot box.
If citizens continue to vet politicians primarily through the lenses of identity, patronage and political convenience, they risk reproducing the very failures they complain about. Kamanga therefore challenges Nigerians, and Africans more broadly, to develop a more discerning political culture in which voters consciously interrogate the people, ideas and values behind the promises made during election season.
